there will be people who will not buy this great light because of the emitter preference

yes, and that would be unfortunate. I hope most will find a way to have the LED swapped to the flavor of their choice.

fwiw, Some modders have stock of exotic LEDs that can be had for a nominal fee. I sometimes choose modders based on whether thy have an LED I want, and Ive recently had mods done by both Texas_Ace (4500k N219b), and Clemence (2000k E21A quad). I recommend both of them.

Your FW3a’s could be drop shipped to the modder of your choice, and you could end up with a grail LED for less than half the cost of an HDS

I have some 219b FET lights. The tint isn’t as good on direct-drive modes, but it doesn’t generally have problems otherwise. On a FET+N+1 like this, it could work pretty well. The highest regulated mode would be only about 800 lm though.

If the FW3A ends up using the LH351D, please make sure it goes back to the clear 10507. There’s no tint shift whatsoever with the Samsungs, and at least I wouldn’t want it to be even floodier than it already it is.

So far, LH351D and 4500K have held a lead for quite a while. 4250K and 4750K keep swapping for second place, with 4750K currently in the lead. XP-L HI and 219c keep swapping for second place, with XP-L HI currently in the lead.

I haven’t done emitter-CCT correlation yet, but from how things look now, it seems like the best option would be to ask Lumintop to make two flavors:

Floody: LH351D 90CRI in 4000K or 5000K (not sure which)

Throwy: XP-L HI in … 4A? (~4650K)

I’m not sure if they’ll be willing to do this, but if so, it seems like it would cover the widest range of preferences.

If the FW3A ends up using the LH351D, please make sure it goes back to the clear 10507. There’s no tint shift whatsoever with the Samsungs, and at least I wouldn’t want it to be even floodier than it already it is.

On the other hand you can polish the frosted optic. And if you want to swap LEDs frosted would be better.

How floddy is the Samsung LED compared to an Astrolux S41 / S42 ?
The first is quite popular so people can relate to.

I went out to measure it… that tree is only 8.5 meters away. The house in the background is 53 m away.

So, yes, it’s very floody.

Both lights were set to the same amount of lumens according to my light box, about 107 lm, to show how things look at a medium level.

But it was a “simulation” using a different LED? Until you have a prototype with Samsungs, or Nichias in it, it’s just an approximation, and potentially mis-leading.

Besides the various optics are inexpensive and (unlike the LEDs) trivially easy to change, maybe offer a set of alternatives for those who would like to experiment, don’t already have some in our bits box, and don’t want to buy them individually at higher prices.

That’s one of the great attractions of a torch using “standard” TIRs, the ease of experimentation.

Or at least show us how the beam looks once the frosted optic is polished, or the tighter one is fitted.

Or set up a third poll for optic preference

PS: Please clarify how many 7135s are in the “N” bank. I think you suggested that the max. regulated level (i.e. the max usable level) is equivalent to a fully loaded Nanjg ?

PPS: whilst I agree that using linear drive is more efficient than a crude FET driver, the low Vf of the Nichia still means inefficiency, just that the waste heat is dumped in the driver rather than the LED, which is why I am keen on seeing the Samsung used.

I should mention that in my image, which has similar cd but less angle covered compared to the samsung fw3a, the distance to the furthest treetops is 60m, and they are clearly lit. The comparison shot shows the approximate difference in cd/lm (though it should apparently be 2.25 cd/lm instead of 2.1) not the ultimate throw. I think the key thing here is to be sure the level of lumens at which it can continuously run is higher than what is needed to produce sufficient cd, whether the multiplier is 2.x or 4.x, and I think the lh351d is more than enough.

(rem: this image was unedited and the camera rendered darks as darker and lights as lighter than my eyes. The flashlight is the only source of light here; anything visible is easy to see without dark adapted eyes.)

The only problem is that although one can fairly well predict the performance of the LH351C (very good in both output and behaviour in optics), no one has actually tried it, and BLF history has shown that a new led needs a first succesful mod to gain momentum among the crowd.

(I’d love to test but have never ordered from Digikey, sbipping kills ordering there)

The only problem is that although one can fairly well predict the performance of the LH351C (very good in both output and behaviour in optics), no one has actually tried it, and BLF history has shown that a new led needs a first succesful mod to gain momentum among the crowd.

(I’d love to test but have never ordered from Digikey, sbipping kills ordering there)